Saving Seafood

Salmon shortage threatens food chain in Pacific NW

October 28, 2019 — What was once an endless supply in the Pacific Northwest is now endangered. Millions of Chinook salmon are not surviving migration. Now, the shortage is causing officials to make some difficult decisions.

As much as air or water, so much life in the Pacific Northwest depends on salmon. Over 130 species rely on nature’s original food delivery but fewer salmon are surviving the heroic swim from the open ocean to spawning streams hundreds of miles inland.

And that means trouble for two creatures that really, really love the king of fish. Killer whales and us.

In your grandparent’s day, the Columbia Basin seemed to produce a never-ending supply and salmon the size of people. But those big “June hog” Chinooks are extinct now and this year numbers were so low, the fall fishing season was canceled.

Columbia Riverkeeper Brett Vandenheuvel said, “The estimates are about 17 million salmon would return to the Columbia every year. It was the greatest salmon fishery in the world. And now it’s about a million fish return.”

And most of those are hatchery fish with weaker genes and less fat than their wild cousins. So the southern resident killer whales that live on Chinook are starving. There are only 73 of this kind of orca left on the planet and after a grieving orca mom pushed her dead calf around Puget Sound for weeks last summer, it rekindled a decades-old debate: salmon vs. dams.

Read the full story at KOBI

How Long Before These Salmon Are Gone? ‘Maybe 20 Years’

September 17, 2019 — The Middle Fork of the Salmon River, one of the wildest rivers in the contiguous United States, is prime fish habitat. Cold, clear waters from melting snow tumble out of the Salmon River Mountains and into the boulder-strewn river, which is federally protected.

Read the full story at The New York Times

New plan targets salmon-eating sea lions in Columbia River

September 3, 2019 — More than 1,100 sea lions could be killed annually along a stretch of the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border to boost faltering populations of salmon and steelhead, federal officials said Friday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said it’s taking public comments through Oct. 29 on the plan requested by Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Native American tribes.

The agency says billions of dollars on habitat restoration, fish passage at dams and other efforts have been spent in the three states in the last several decades to save 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Scientists studying effects of hatchery-raised salmon on wild salmon

July 9, 2019 — Tens of millions of salmon spawned and raised in hatcheries are released into waterways like the Columbia River every year.

The goal is to increase the numbers of the endangered fish. It is no doubt an important effort. But some wonder if this tinkering with Mother Nature could be harming wild salmon.

Scientists with NOAA Fisheries spent the first part of the summer along the Columbia River in Kalama and are hoping to answer that question.

They collected samples of juvenile chinook salmon. Some were wild, spawned in natural waterways. Others were spawned in hatcheries like Fallert Creek, just a few miles up the Kalama River.

In May, the hatchery released close to two million juvenile salmon into the area.

So, why are these scientists now scooping some of them up?

“With the input of all the hatchery fish coming in, we’re not quite sure where that leaves the wild stocks,” said Regan McNatte, a NOAA Research Fisheries biologist.

Simply put, they want to find out once and for all if the hatchery-raised fish are hurting the wild salmon in this area by competing too much with them for things like food and habitat.

Read the full story at KUTV

WASHINGTON: Northwest States, Tribes Apply to Feds For OK to Kill More Columbia Sea Lions

June 14, 2019 — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), along with a consortium of state and tribal partners, today submitted an expanded application to lethally remove California and Steller sea lions preying on threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

California sea lions — and increasingly, Steller sea lions — have been observed in growing numbers in the Columbia River basin, especially in the last decade. These sea lions prey heavily on salmon and steelhead runs listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including thousands of fish at Bonneville Dam each year.

The impacts come at a time when many Chinook salmon runs are already at historic lows.

The recovery of sea lions since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in 1972 is a success story, said Kessina Lee, Region 5 director with WDFW. But that recovery has also brought challenges.

“The vast majority of these animals remain in coastal and offshore waters, but several hundred have established themselves in upriver locations,” Lee said. “Where salmon and steelhead numbers are low, any unmanaged increase in predation can cause serious problems.”

Predator management is a key part of a multi-faceted effort to restore salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest.

Read the full story at Northwest Sportsman

Salmon-eating sea lions targeted at Columbia River dam

May 6, 2019 — More California sea lions preying on imperiled salmon in the Columbia River below a hydroelectric project on the Oregon-Washington border are being killed under a revised policy, federal authorities said Friday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service made public reduced criteria for removing sea lions at Bonneville Dam about 145 miles (235 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean.

The new guidelines that went into effect April 17 permit any California sea lion seen in the area on five occasions or seen eating a fish to be put on a list for lethal removal.

The former criteria required both those marks to be met. Officials say 10 sea lions have been killed so far this year, most as a result of the policy change.

Robert Anderson, the agency’s marine mammal program manager, said the Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force decided to make the change after dissatisfaction with current efforts. A study found the change could increase the number of sea lions killed by 66 percent.

Officials are authorized to remove 92 California sea lions annually from the area, but have never come close to that number. Meanwhile, billions of dollars have been spent in Idaho, Oregon and Washington to save 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

They smell, bark and snatch pet dogs. Sea lions cause trouble at Northwest ports

May 3, 2019 — A big rebound in the sea lion population along the West Coast in recent years has created a constant battle to wrangle the protected animals. They’re smart and fun to watch from a safe distance, but also noisy, smelly and proving to be a headache for some coastal marinas.

“It’s a free zoo kind of, just don’t pet ’em!” observed Dennis Craig of Olympia while he watched a pier at Washington’s Westport marina nearly sink under the weight of dozens of burly bulls jostling and snoozing in the sun.

“You notice when the charters come in, they’ll swing wide just so people can get a closer look because, like I say, it’s entertaining,” Craig said.

The flip side of these flippered fish fiends can be seen in the mounting bill to the marina, including the cost of busted docks, broken electric stanchions and lost business.

“Nearly all of our net revenue was used to repair damage caused by sea lions this year, taking those funds away from infrastructure improvements and replacements that are critical to the marina facility and our users,” said Westport Marina business manager Molly Bold in an email.

Sea lions have blocked people from mooring their boats. In other cases, commercial fishermen have had to run through a sea lion gauntlet just to get onto their vessels. The sea lions even snatched a few pet dogs right off the piers, said Westport Aquarium co-owner Marc Myrsell, who volunteers to monitor the marine mammals.

Read the full story at KPBX

Pacific Council Finalizes Generally Improved Salmon Seasons for 2019

April 17, 2019 — Most salmon trollers can expect better ocean salmon seasons this year — while also meeting conservation goals, fishery managers said Monday.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council finalized its recommendations for 2019 salmon seasons at its meeting in Rohnert Park, Calif., for seasons beginning in May.

The seasons must still be approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, but managers said that is expected.

The adopted regulations for Chinook salmon reflect the improved status of Sacramento River fall Chinook, Oregon managers said in a notice to industry. Rogue River fall Chinook and Klamath River fall Chinook populations both are in good and fair condition, respectively, they added.

Also, most of the north migrating stocks of Chinook (Oregon Coastal Chinook stocks from the Nehalem River south to the Elk River as well as a number of Columbia River Chinook stocks) are in moderate to poor condition. These north migrating stocks of Chinook contribute very little to Oregon’s ocean seasons but are very important to Oregon’s inside estuary and river recreational seasons.

The commercial ocean troll salmon seasons north of Cape Falcon will have very limited Chinook salmon quotas again this year. The ocean fishery will be managed by quotas, season length, and vessel landing week (Thursday-Wednesday) limits. The early Chinook salmon-only season will start on May 6. The season will continue until the overall quota of 13,200 Chinook or the Leadbetter Pt., Washington, to Cape Falcon (in northern Oregon) subarea cap of 1,800 Chinook is taken, or June 28, whichever comes first. Fishermen will be limited to 100 Chinook per vessel for the period of May 6-15 and then shift to a 50 Chinook per vessel per landing week (Thursday-Wednesday), beginning May 16.

The summer all-salmon fishery north of Cape Falcon will open on July 1 and continue through the earlier of the overall Chinook quota of 13,050 Chinook or 30,400 fin clipped coho, managers said in the notice to fishermen. Trollers will also be limited to 150 adipose fin-clipped coho during the landing week (Thurs-Wed) per vessel.

This year’s fisheries were designed to take advantage of a higher number of coho salmon forecast to return to Washington’s waters as compared to recent years, Kyle Adicks, salmon policy lead for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in a press release. However, projected low returns of key Chinook stocks in Puget Sound prompted fishery managers to restrict fisheries there.

“We’re able to provide more opportunities to fish for coho in some areas, particularly in the ocean and Columbia River, than we have been able to do for several years,” Adicks said. Coho fisheries generally benefit sport fishermen but can constrain commercial fishermen targeting Chinook if coho is taken incidentally. “But continued poor returns of some Chinook stocks forced us to make difficult decisions for fisheries in Puget Sound this year.”

Again in 2019, fishery managers projected another low return of Stillaguamish, Nooksack and mid-Hood Canal Chinook and took steps to protect those stocks.

WDFW Director Kelly Susewind acknowledged the reductions in Puget Sound salmon fisheries are difficult for both fishermen, primarily sport fishermen, and the local communities that depend on those fisheries.

“Reducing fisheries is not a long-term solution to the declining number of Chinook salmon,” Susewind said. “The department will continue working with the co-managers, our constituents, and others to address habitat loss. Without improved habitat, our chinook populations will likely continue to decline.”

Limiting fisheries to meet conservation objectives for wild salmon indirectly benefits southern resident killer whales. The fishery adjustments will aid in minimizing boat presence and noise, and decrease competition for Chinook and other salmon in these areas critical to the declining whales, WDFW said in a press release.

In the rest of Oregon, from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain near Port Orford in southern Oregon, the Chinook salmon season will be open April 20-30, May 6-30, June 1-Aug. 29, and Sept. 1 through Oct. 31. Beginning Sept. 1, a 75 Chinook salmon per vessel weekly limit (Thursday through Wednesday) will be in place.

From Humbug Mt. to the Oregon/California border, the commercial troll fishery will be open April 20-30 and May 6-30. Beginning June 1, landing week (Thurs-Wed) limits of 50 Chinook per vessel will go into effect along with monthly quotas of 3,200 Chinook in June; 2,500 in July; and 1,200 in August (8/1-29).

“I really appreciate everybody’s work this week,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Fish Division Deputy Administrator Chris Kern said on the Council floor. “[It was] a lot of hard work, but I feel pretty good about where we landed.”

Similarly, California trollers should expect more time on the water this year.

Brett Kormos, with the Marine Region of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, noted the two primary rivers, Sacramento and Klamath River, that contribute fall Chinook to ocean salmon fisheries are still in a rebuilding phase or overfished status. Still, “we are also looking at increased harvest opportunities in both commercial and recreational sectors in 2019 compared to 2018,” Kormos said.

Fishery managers modeled the seasons and limits to allow for a Sacramento River fall Chinook spawning escapement of 160,129 hatchery and natural area adults.

This story has been republished here with the permission of SeafoodNews.com. 

Scientists see improved ocean conditions for young salmon

March 11, 2019 — Ocean conditions are improving for salmon entering the ocean this year, several years after The Blob, an unusually warm water event that began forming in 2014, scientists announced Friday.

Research surveys in 2018 confirmed tiny animals that stoke the food chain were nice and fatty. Anchovies, an important forage fish, were increasing in number. Sea lion pups were numerous and growing well, and fish-eating sea birds going strong.

However, subsurface sea temperatures were still warmer than average in some areas. Pyrosomes, a warm-water animal that is not supposed to be in Northwest waters, were still numerous.

Forecasts for chinook salmon in 2019 also were for below-average salmon returns to the Columbia River. Extensive ocean acidification and poorly oxygenated waters off both Washington and Oregon also were predicted for this year.

Read the full story from The Seattle Times at The Spokesman-Review

Washington’s Anti-Gillnet Bill Draws Strong Support, Opposition in Committee Hearing

February 14, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Washington Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks held a hearing Tuesday on SB 5617, the anti-gillnet bill, and testifiers on both sides of the issue had strong feelings about the bill.

As introduced, SB 5617 would mandate the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife develop a three-phase program for purchasing and retirement of nontribal salmon gillnets by Dec. 31, 2022. However, no appropriations for buying out the permits was included in the bill. It would effectively eliminate gillnet fisheries in Puget Sound, Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay and the Washington side of the Columbia River.

Chief sponsor Sen. Jesse Salomon, a Democrat and vice chair of the committee, introduced the hearing by saying gillnets are the only non-selective gear allowed in Washington waters and said they are not the best management tool for managing salmon, particularly ESA-listed species.

Sport fishermen were the primary supporters of the bill. The arguments and tensions surrounding the issue mirrored controversies and arguments heard on the Columbia River about the reforms put in place six years ago designed to move gillnets off the main river.

Sport fishermen and guides said their fishing and business was dropping and that the only solution was to eliminate gillnetting. Furthermore, recreational fishing is big business and that should count toward support of the bill.

“Our industry is a transfer of wealth from urban to rural Washington,” said Mark Bush, an northwest guide and angler. Furthermore, some guides have had to reduce their rates or start guiding on inland fisheries to make up for business losses, he added.

Commercial fishermen and processors countered that idea.

The problem is not with gillnets, they said, but with hatchery production. More hatchery-produced salmon would benefit both sport and commercial fishermen. And, they said, it would benefit the southern resident killer whales whose main diet is salmon.

“Our delegation, our association in Bellingham is against this bill, …” said Shannon Moore, a Puget Sound gillnetter. “This bill will not accomplish anything expect putting families out of business.”

Moore also noted a letter from Ron Garner, president of the Puget Sound Anglers, that was posted on SquidPro Tackle’s Salmon Chronicles website, mentioned the unintended consequences of banning gillnets. SB5617 would stop hatchery production increases, Garner wrote.

“It does not address the ESA requirement of commercial clean up or commercial netting to stop the excess hatchery fish on spawning beds. This state bill removes the tool in the tool box that allows those increases to happen. There are ways to work with the commercials to adjust but this is flat out to remove them and going to stop hatchery increases dead in its tracks.

“Our commercials are the ones tasked to clean up excess hatchery fish, allowing us to make more fish for our Orcas, communities, and fishers of Washington. This is law in today’s world that cannot be ignored, until newer science is adopted, which is being working on. While the general public thinks it is the right thing to do, they do not understand the full dynamics and end result it will be bring,” the letter continued.

The letter also showed a graph of orca populations trending down at the same time salmon hatchery production dropped off over several years.

Shortly after Moore’s testimony and mention of Garner’s letter, committee chair Sen. Kevin Van De Wege said Garner sent him an email rescinding that letter.

Some of Washington’s tribes also opposed the bill. The Lummi Nation representative, Lisa Wilson, said it would negatively impact the tribe, despite the bill’s wording of “non-tribal” gillnets. The Quileute Tribe also opposed the bill based on four premises: it did not acknowledge the status of tribes; it was written on the false premise that gillnets are non-selective; it also included the false premise that mark-selective fisheries would always protect wild stocks; and that it’s time for all fishermen — sport, tribal, commercial — to come together to work on the real issues affecting salmon management and orca declines.

Salmon For All’s Jim Wells, a gillnetter, made the point that there is “… no biological reason for banning gillnets.”

The committee room was packed, with several audience members seated in a nearby overflow room. More than 67 people signed up to speak. Due to time constraints, each person was limited to one minute of testimony. The future of the bill is uncertain and it may not move out of committee as it is rumored some of the co-sponsors are re-considering their supporting position.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.